Moleculartyping and antibiotic resistance pattern of Aeromonas hydrophila isolated from children with diarrhea in Qom, Iran

Pegah  Shakib; Mohammad Reza  Zolfaghari; Mina  Hosseini; Fatemeh  Mosaei; Seyed Soheil  Aghaei

doi:10.18502/ijm.v18i3.21655

Pegah Shakib Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran
Mohammad Reza Zolfaghari Department of Microbiology, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran
Mina Hosseini Department of Microbiology, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran
Fatemeh Mosaei Department of Microbiology, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran
Seyed Soheil Aghaei Department of Microbiology, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijm.v18i3.21655

Keywords: Aeromonas hydrophila; Antibiotic sensitivity pattern; Polymerase chain reaction (PCR); Molecular typing

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Today there are reports of the spread of multiple antibiotic resistance in Aeromonas spp., which can be opportunistic pathogens and can cause infection in the host. This study aimed to investigate ERIC-PCR and BOX-PCR typing, drug resistance pattern, and tetracycline, sulfonamide, and fluoroquinolone resistance genes in Aeromonas hydrophila collected from diarrhea samples of children in Qom City, Iran.

Materials and Methods: In our cross-sectional descriptive study, isolates of A. hydrophila isolated from children's diarrhea samples at Hazrat Masoumeh Hospital in Qom were evaluated between 2018 and 2020. Once isolates confirmed, the level of antimicrobial resistance of the strains was determined by the disk diffusion assay following the recommendations of Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). The genes of tetA, tetB, tetC, tetD, tetE, sul1, sul2, Edq1qc, qnrA, qnrB, qnrS were studied using the PCR method. Then the genetic diversity of the isolates was investigated by ERIC-PCR and box-PCR. Finally, data analysis was done with SPSS version 16.

Results: From 100 A. hydrophila strains, the highest resistance, and sensitivity were related to ampicillin (92%) and azithro-mycin (96%), respectively. The frequency of tetA, tetB, tetC, tetD, tetE, sul1, sul2, Edq1qc, qnrA, qnrB, qnrS genes was 23,24, 27, 23, 21, 26, 10, 22, 8, 11, 15%, respectively. With ERIC-PCR and BOX-PCR techniques, all isolates could be typed, so that 8 genetic patterns were determined in ERIC-PCR and 10 genetic patterns were determined in BOX-PCR. A significant relationship was found between cefotaxime and tetA (p = 0.012), ciprofloxacin and tetC (p = 0.018), cefotaxime and qnrA (p= 0.04), and also between tetracycline resistance genes and both sulfonamide genes (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: For the first time this study revealed resistance genes for tetracycline, sulfonamide, and fluoroquinolones in A. hydrophila isolated from childeren’s diarrhea samples in Qom. Even though these antimicrobial resistance genes are present in our study and bacteria are resistant to different types of antimicrobials, it can be predicted that the abundance of these genes will increase in the future. We also observed that A. hydrophila isolates had high genetic diversity.